In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

The Sixth International Green Awards celebration took place at a glittering gala in London last week. The awards, which are accredited by the Royal Society of Arts, were established to recognize creativity in promoting international sustainability, focusing on media, communication, product design, people and innovation.

Their goal is to “bring together and make more visible a wide range of ideas and achievements designed to help our globe to become more livable by making it more sustainable.”

A panel of experts, including representatives from Carbon Disclosure Project, WWF, Carbon Zero Solutions, The Carbon Trust, The Mayor of London’s office, and Environmental Advisor to the Prince of Wales among others were charged with making the selections.

In all, 17 countries were represented, including the US, which won four, including gold for Best Green Cross Platform Digital Media Solution (Lucid Design Group – building dashboard) and Best Green 4R’s Award (Ecologic– packaging). US-based Puma took the silver for Best Green Large Company.

The overall Grand Prix winner was given to Unilever PLC, which also took the gold medal for the Best Green International Large Business Award. The company was commended for the radical new sustainability strategy in which they have pledged to:

halve the environmental footprint of their products

source 100 percent of their agricultural raw materials sustainably, and

help more than 1 billion people take action to improve their health and well-being

This last item is based on what they call their “Five Levers for Change.” These consist of 1) make it understood, 2) make it easy, 3) make it desirable, 4) make it rewarding and 5) make it a habit.

The lifetime achievement award was given posthumously to Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan Nobel prize winner, who founded the Green Belt Movement, and who passed away earlier this year.

RP Siegel, PE, is the President of Rain Mountain LLC. He is also the co-author of the eco-thriller Vapor Trails, the first in a series covering the human side of various sustainability issues including energy, food, and water. Like airplanes, we all leave behind a vapor trail. And though we can easily see others’, we rarely see our own.

RP Siegel, author and inventor, shines a powerful light on numerous environmental and technological topics. His work has appeared in Triple Pundit, GreenBiz, Justmeans, CSRWire, Sustainable Brands, PolicyInnovations, Social Earth, 3BL Media, ThomasNet, Huffington Post, Strategy+Business, Mechanical Engineering, and engineering.com among others . He is the co-author, with Roger Saillant, of Vapor Trails, an adventure novel that shows climate change from a human perspective. RP is a professional engineer - a prolific inventor with 52 patents and President of Rain Mountain LLC a an independent product development group. RP recently returned from Abu Dhabi where he traveled as the winner of the 2015 Sustainability Week blogging competition.Contact: bobolink52@gmail.com